1 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 1: The professor's steel rimmed glasses glinted from the bright angle 2 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: poise lamp. He scratched his thick gray beard thoughtfully as 3 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: he pondered the site in front of him. He brought 4 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: the lamp down closer to better illuminate the body of 5 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 1: the dead creature lying on a table at the Natural 6 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: Science Research Laboratory in Lubbock, Texas. 7 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:37,160 Speaker 2: The lab forms. 8 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:41,560 Speaker 1: An important part of Texas Tech University's museum, and back 9 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:46,240 Speaker 1: in two thousand and five, Professor Robert Baker was its director. 10 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: Recognized as a leader in innovative ways to look after 11 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: collections of biological specimens, The facility houses four major natural 12 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: history collections animals, birds, invertebrates, as well as an archive 13 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: of genetic samples from more than a hundred thousand animals 14 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: across the world. Baker was passionate about what is known 15 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: as the series problem, working out how exactly to define 16 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: and identify the new species of animal to date. In 17 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,759 Speaker 1: his lifetime, he had already been responsible for describing eighteen 18 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: completely new mammal species previously unknown to science, and now 19 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:38,679 Speaker 1: he was pondering a possible nineteenth. In appearance, the creature 20 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:45,480 Speaker 1: was shocking frightening. Even the emaciated corpse was covered by 21 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: furlsh skin that was shrunken and blackened, so that the 22 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: snout and teeth of it were garishly pronounced. It had 23 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: been brought in by game wardens at the Texas Parks 24 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: and Wildlife District, who said that the animal had been 25 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: shot one night while running across someone's. 26 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 2: Ranch on the South Plains. 27 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 1: Although he couldn't be certain, Baker suspected that what he 28 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: had on his hands was a raccoon. The man who 29 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: shot it, however, believed it was something else entirely, a 30 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: fearsome mythical creature known as the tupa cabra. You're listening 31 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: to Unexplained and I'm. 32 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 2: Richard McLean Smith. 33 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: Back in early spring nineteen ninety six, in the state 34 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: of Hallisco in Mexico, a series of strange reports emerged 35 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: detailing the seemingly senseless slaughter of countless sheep and goats. 36 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: The report stated that the animal's carcasses or almost all, 37 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: had two teeth marks about the third of an inch 38 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: across on their necks and had been exsanguinated, meaning all 39 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: their blood had been completely drained. It was like nothing 40 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: anyone had ever seen before, and there was one word 41 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: on the lips of local residents Cupa cabra. The name 42 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: was coined by Puerto Rican comedian Silverio Perez the year 43 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: before to describe a mysterious predator that had supposedly been 44 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: responsible for a number of strange animal deaths that plagued 45 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: the country in the late nineteen eighties and early nineties. 46 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: Taken from cupa, the Spanish verb to suck because of 47 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: the animals reportedly vampiric habits, and cabras for goat due 48 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: to that supposedly being the animals favored prey. As time 49 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: went on, the last s was eventually dropped to form 50 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 1: the name more commonly used today. By the late nineteen nineties, however, 51 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: it seemed fear of the creature, and perhaps the apparent 52 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: creature itself had long since escaped the borders of Puerto Rico. 53 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,479 Speaker 1: In response to the killings in Hallisco, Mexico, the director 54 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: of the Guadalajara Zoo, Francisco A. Rahon, visited the scene 55 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: of one of the mass killings, where he made a 56 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: cast of a poor print that he found there. After 57 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: careful examination, however, he concluded the culprit was nothing more. 58 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 2: Than a large dog or wolf. 59 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 1: Two investigators, Patricia and Mario Menendez Acosta, staked out several 60 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: farm yards where similar attacks on livestock had taken place. 61 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: One night, the the couple witnessed the animals being attacked, 62 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: but found the culprits to simply be feral dogs. The 63 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 1: attacks had so gripped the local community that Cuban born 64 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: American TV personality Christina Sarah Leggy featured reports of the 65 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:23,400 Speaker 1: mysterious creature on her widely popular Spanish language TV show 66 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 1: Christina Then in Miami, Florida, on the night of March twentieth, 67 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety six, something left the lifeless bodies of sixty 68 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: nine goats, chickens, and geese strewn across two backyards in 69 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: the neighborhood of sweet Water. One reporter described them as 70 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: being a vampire dry. It was left to Ron McGill, 71 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: a zoologist from Miami Dade Zoo, to attempt to bring 72 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: a little calm and logic to the situation. Countless dead 73 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 1: animals still littered the scene when he arrived the following day, 74 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 1: having read all the reports about them supposedly being attacked 75 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:13,360 Speaker 1: by a vampiric creature. His first thought was to put 76 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 1: that to the test. Taking a sharp knife, he took 77 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: hold of one of the goats and sliced through its 78 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: carotid artery. Almost immediately, blood flowed out in a heavy stream. 79 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: When he looked for puncture wounds, he found a number 80 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: of bite marks that to him looked no different to 81 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: classic canine puncture marks. As he told a gathering of 82 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: TV reporters shortly after, these animals had also been killed 83 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 1: by dogs. Some residents of sweet Water wondered why if 84 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: dogs were to blame that none of the animals had 85 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: been eaten, But as Ron McGill explained, it was fairly 86 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,200 Speaker 1: typical of dogs to kill simply for the thrill of 87 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: the chase. 88 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:10,040 Speaker 2: It was a topic. 89 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: McGill knew only too well. Two years previously, feral dogs 90 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: had gone on a killing spree at his zoo, killing 91 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: fifteen antelopes, leaving the bodies uneaten, lying where they died, 92 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: just like the scene in sweet Water, but others were 93 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: not convinced. It was just as the TV crews were 94 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: preparing to pack up that an elderly woman approached one 95 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: of the cameras a stern, determined look on her face. 96 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 1: It was no dog, she said, as the camera zoomed 97 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: in closer, her eyes narrowing at the apparent memory of 98 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: it all. The creature, she said, whatever it was, had 99 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: stood on two legs, not four, like a dog, with 100 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 1: a body that was hunched over strangely, and when it 101 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: looked at her, she said. 102 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 2: Its eyes were bright red. 103 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: As fears of the tupa cabra began to spread, more 104 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: people felt the need to weigh in on the subject. 105 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: Esteban Sarmiento, a primatologist from the American Museum of Natural History, 106 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: examined tracks allegedly left by the creature and claimed to 107 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: find clear evidence of a hoax. In contrast, self described 108 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: researcher from the Miami UFO Center for Hilio Sanchez O 109 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: Sejo took more plaster casts of tracks. He pronounced them 110 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: to have been made by an unknown, possibly extraterrestrial creature. 111 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:51,959 Speaker 1: By April two thousand, the tupacubra had apparently made it 112 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: as far south as Chile, where some of the weirdest 113 00:08:55,440 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: reports were being made in the northern Chilean city of Calama. 114 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: No one seemed to have directly witnessed the creature as 115 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: it attacked, but it was claimed that it killed up 116 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:11,960 Speaker 1: to three hundred domestic livestock, once again draining many of 117 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: their blood. The attacks always seemed to happen after dark, 118 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: with many locals claiming that sounds made by the creature 119 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:27,239 Speaker 1: made them too terrified to investigate until daybreak. In response, 120 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 1: local governor Francisco Segosia called for an investigation. When it 121 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: finally wrapped up in June, Segosia pronounced that, as it 122 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: was after previous investigations, the attacks had been made by 123 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:58,319 Speaker 1: feral dogs, but many residents were skeptical. It wasn't long 124 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: after the Calama investigation came to a close that a 125 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 1: report on Chilean radio suggested that, in fact, the real 126 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: culprits were animals that had escaped from a secret testing 127 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 1: facility run in coordination with the US government. The theory 128 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,760 Speaker 1: was fueled by a small group of prominent Chilean eufologists, 129 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: who claimed that some time ago, members of the Chilean 130 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: military had found three strange eggs while out in the desert. 131 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 1: The military, with the assistance of NASA, were then said 132 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 1: to have conducted genetic tests on the eggs at a 133 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:41,440 Speaker 1: secret lab in the Atacama Desert, where they eventually hatched. 134 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,960 Speaker 1: It was all part of a program to genetically engineer 135 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 1: a hybrid animal that could survive on Mars. They asserted. 136 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: They believed that a male, a female, and a cub 137 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:58,319 Speaker 1: of this hybrid had escaped from the lab and been 138 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: living in a mine nor of Calama until NASA scientists 139 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 1: flew down in a large black helicopter and took the 140 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:09,520 Speaker 1: three creatures back to captivity. 141 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 2: Later. 142 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:15,480 Speaker 1: In one TV report, a Chilean taxi driver claimed that 143 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:19,600 Speaker 1: he saw a weird winged beast about the size of 144 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:22,839 Speaker 1: a man running down the street as he drove home. 145 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: It ran beside him for a short while, he said, 146 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 1: before out running his speeding vehicle. There were no other 147 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: witnesses to this event, which, like the other reports of 148 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:43,160 Speaker 1: the Chilean schupacabra, remained unsubstantiated. As the chupacabra mystery spread, 149 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: reports came in from countries as far afield as the 150 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: Dominican Republic, Argentina, Bolivia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Peru, and Brazil. 151 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: In the Caribbean, it was typically described as being four 152 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:04,199 Speaker 1: to five feet tall, with long claws and a row 153 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:04,960 Speaker 1: of spikes. 154 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 2: Down its back. In Mexico, it was said to. 155 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 1: Look like some sort of weird dog that walked on 156 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: two legs, while in Central and South America it was 157 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: a three to four foot tall kangaroo like creature with 158 00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: wings that hopped and varied in color from purple to 159 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: brownish yellow. Some claimed the animal's eyes emitted beams of 160 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:35,200 Speaker 1: light which shone like flashlights into the night, or that 161 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: there was a smell of sulfur in the air when 162 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: it was around. What the descriptions did agree on was 163 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:45,840 Speaker 1: that it had a rounded head with elongated black eyes, 164 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: thin arms with long claws, and a row of what 165 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: appeared to be spikes down the center of its back. 166 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:58,199 Speaker 1: Some reports included details about the animal's jawline, which was 167 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 1: said to be delicate, with a small mouth full of 168 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 1: needle like teeth. The creature was reputed to have attacked goats, cats, sheep, chickens, dogs, ducks, 169 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:16,160 Speaker 1: and pigs. A few farmers even claimed that it tried 170 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:20,640 Speaker 1: to impregnate their cows. Over the course of ten to 171 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:25,959 Speaker 1: fifteen years. Tuper cabra sightings were also reported fairly frequently 172 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: in local press across southern Texas and even as far 173 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 1: west as, Arizona in the United States, One apparently terrified 174 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:41,320 Speaker 1: boy in suburban Tucson told his father, Jose Espinosa, that 175 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: a tupa cabra had walked through the front door of 176 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:48,240 Speaker 1: their house and sat down on his bed before jumping 177 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,560 Speaker 1: out of the window. Then, in two thousand and seven, 178 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:58,280 Speaker 1: biologists at Texas State University in San Marcos seemed to 179 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 1: finally get their hands on In the summer of two 180 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:12,840 Speaker 1: thousand and seven, Phyllis Canyon claimed to have found the 181 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: body of the strange, hairless dog like creature on a 182 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: ranch outside the small town of Cuero in Texas, just 183 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: southeast of San Antonio. Canyon thoughtfully preserved its head in 184 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 1: her freezer. She then contacted a reporter, Joe Conger at 185 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:37,040 Speaker 1: the local news station, giving him a tissue sample from 186 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 1: the animal, which Conga passed along to Mike Fawsner, a 187 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:47,320 Speaker 1: biologist at Texas State University. Forwsner, who was experienced in 188 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 1: DNA testing on animals ranging from bats to toads, assigned 189 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:55,440 Speaker 1: two of his students to do an analysis on the 190 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: tissue sample. They found its genetic sequence was the per 191 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:06,160 Speaker 1: match for a coyote periodically in the noughties, Cuba cabra 192 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: sightings and occasional corpses would be reported across the border 193 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:16,000 Speaker 1: regions of Texas and Mexico. One Saturday evening in May 194 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, a woman in White Faced, Texas contacted the 195 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: local game warden saying that she'd just seen a cupa cabra. 196 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 1: The Texas Parks and Wildlife District had been getting calls 197 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: about such sightings for a while, associated with an animal, 198 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 1: either living or dead, that looked very strange. The warden 199 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 1: went to the place the woman had described, just over 200 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: the county border in Hockley County, and found a corpse 201 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: that fitted the description of other dead animals his colleagues 202 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: had investigated. It was very thin, with bones showing through 203 00:15:56,040 --> 00:16:00,240 Speaker 1: its skin that was blotchy and darkened in places. A 204 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 1: lot of the animal's fur seemed. 205 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 2: To be missing. 206 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: The carcass was taken to the Natural Science Research Laboratory 207 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:11,840 Speaker 1: at Texas Tech in Lubbock, the same lab where several 208 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:17,200 Speaker 1: years before, Professor Robert Baker had examined the grotesque, blackened 209 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: corpse of his own apparent tuber cabra. Baker's successor, doctor 210 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: Robert Bradley, was. 211 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:26,440 Speaker 2: Now in charge. 212 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: Unfortunately, he didn't have the preserved corpse of Baker's animal 213 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: to compare this latest find with, because it had not 214 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 1: been frozen intact to save space and the lab's freezers. 215 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 1: Professor Baker had just taken a few tissue samples from it. 216 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:46,640 Speaker 1: Then the body had been put in a sealed case 217 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: full of dermasted beetles, a procedure routinely used to reduce 218 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: a dead animal to just a skeleton. Over a period 219 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:02,640 Speaker 1: of several days, the voracious beetles munched away at the carcass, 220 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:07,160 Speaker 1: a chorus of tiny mandibles, clicking audibly as they feasted. 221 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,360 Speaker 1: When they'd finished, all that was left of the mysterious 222 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:15,639 Speaker 1: looking creature was a nice clean skull and skeleton to 223 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:21,360 Speaker 1: add to the lab's collection. A subsequent DNA test revealed 224 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: it to be a raccoon after all, just as Professor 225 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:30,879 Speaker 1: Baker had suspected. Doctor Bradley remembered another crucial bit of 226 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:35,159 Speaker 1: information about Baker's creature that what had made it so 227 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:39,160 Speaker 1: hard to identify at first was because it was suffering 228 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 1: from sarcoptic mange. When doctor Bradley ran a DNA analysis 229 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:49,639 Speaker 1: of his strange corpse from Hockley County, it was revealed 230 00:17:49,680 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: to be a coyote, it too, was suffering from sarcoptic mange. 231 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 1: Sarcoptic mange is caused by parasitic mites known as Sarcoptis scabii, 232 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 1: which attack mammals. The ticks have circular bodies, four pairs 233 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:17,879 Speaker 1: of front legs, some with suckers, and two pairs of 234 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:22,600 Speaker 1: rear legs with long trailing bristles and spur like claws. 235 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:28,160 Speaker 1: When they infect dogs, the female mites use those legs 236 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: to dig into the skin, causing severe itching, which makes 237 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:36,679 Speaker 1: the hapless dog constantly chew and scratch at its own body. 238 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:43,680 Speaker 1: Sarcoptic mange is highly transmissible, infecting wild animals like coyotes 239 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:47,080 Speaker 1: and raccoons. It can even jump to humans who have 240 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:51,639 Speaker 1: come into close contact with an infected animal. On humans, 241 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: it is easily treated. However, for wildlife like coyotes and raccoons, 242 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:03,159 Speaker 1: contracting sarcoptic mange means a sad and grizzly fate. The 243 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:07,199 Speaker 1: mites eat the fur off their host, typically from the 244 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: abdomen and hindquarters first, so that the infected animals appear 245 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:16,679 Speaker 1: to develop a ruff of hair around their shoulders. Sometimes 246 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,760 Speaker 1: an animal will become almost completely naked, except for little 247 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: tufts of fur around the feet and in what looks 248 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: like a ridge of hair running down its backbone. As 249 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 1: the disease progresses, the host becomes very weak, making it 250 00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 1: hard to effectively hunt for food. As the animal starts 251 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:44,479 Speaker 1: to starve, its skin becomes tight and drawn, causing hip bones, teeth, 252 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 1: and claws to become more prominent. Also with fur loss, 253 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 1: skin is exposed to sunlight and melotonin is produced, often 254 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 1: turning the animal dark gray or blackish in color. The 255 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: effect some is sinister. Glimpsed briefly in low light or 256 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:09,120 Speaker 1: after dark, to the untrained human eye, an infected animal 257 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 1: would very likely appear monstrous, even alien. One biologist from 258 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: the University of Michigan speculated that coyotes infected with sarcoptic 259 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,639 Speaker 1: mange might very well have trouble running down their normal prey, 260 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 1: small mammals like rabbits. This, he said, might force them 261 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:38,360 Speaker 1: to attack domestic livestock out of sheer desperation. Back in Lubbock, Texas, 262 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:44,720 Speaker 1: doctor Robert Bradley concurred, stating that coyotes and raccoons suffering 263 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:49,560 Speaker 1: from sarcoptic mange were especially prevalent in the surrounding areas. 264 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:55,680 Speaker 1: Every other so called tupacabra that doctor Bradley has subsequently 265 00:20:55,800 --> 00:21:00,200 Speaker 1: tested has turned out to be a coyote, raccoon, or 266 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:04,399 Speaker 1: some other well known species of animal. And so it 267 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:09,159 Speaker 1: seemed there was finally a logical, scientific explanation for the 268 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:14,920 Speaker 1: alleged tupa cabra sightings and corpses. And yet the very 269 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 1: first cupa cabra sightings were reported from one of the 270 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:25,160 Speaker 1: largest islands in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, which doesn't have coyotes, 271 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:30,879 Speaker 1: and where eyewitness reports of cupa cabras have invariably described 272 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 1: an animal walking on two legs, not four. The stories 273 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 1: started in nineteen ninety five, when the island was beset 274 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:55,400 Speaker 1: by a succession of difficult circumstances. Puerto Rico has many 275 00:21:55,720 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 1: unique characteristics. As a commonwealth of the United States, residents 276 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 1: have American citizenship but cannot cast votes in US elections. 277 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:12,199 Speaker 1: The island effectively has the USA's only tropical rainforest, El Junke, 278 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:18,360 Speaker 1: where at times it literally rains frogs. This intriguing phenomenon 279 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 1: happens when the indigenous cocky frogs climb up trees during 280 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:27,160 Speaker 1: periods of high humidity and heavy rain, only to jump 281 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: back down when they find predators waiting for them in 282 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: the tree tops. The island sits next to one of 283 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,440 Speaker 1: the world's deepest ocean trenches at almost eight and a 284 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 1: half thousand meters below sea level, and is also the 285 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 1: birthplace of the rum based cocktail, the Pina Colada, and 286 00:22:47,359 --> 00:22:51,480 Speaker 1: in the nineteen nineties, Puerto Ricans could be forgiven for 287 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:55,640 Speaker 1: turning to rum for comfort. The island had been hit 288 00:22:55,760 --> 00:23:01,119 Speaker 1: by one difficulty after another, starting with an alarming eight epidemic. 289 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety one, the US Center for Disease Control 290 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: reported that Puerto Rico at the second highest rate of 291 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 1: HIV cases among all US states and territories, especially among women. 292 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: It was also a time when Puerto Rico was inundated 293 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 1: by a voracious rat population. This in turn led to 294 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 1: an increase in the rat's main predator, the mongoose. The 295 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:33,760 Speaker 1: mongoose proved to be spectacularly successful in controlling the rats, 296 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:38,680 Speaker 1: but that only created another problem, lots of hungry mongoose 297 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:43,240 Speaker 1: short of food. Then, from June ninety four to May 298 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:48,600 Speaker 1: ninety five, the island experienced another epidemic, this time of 299 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:54,880 Speaker 1: Dengi fever, affecting twenty five thousand people, hospitalizing five thousand 300 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:59,879 Speaker 1: and killing forty. It was spread by mosquitoes whose populations 301 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 1: had increased dramatically, encouraged by several months of drought and 302 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:08,479 Speaker 1: unusually warm weather in the months prior to the summer 303 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:13,359 Speaker 1: of ninety five, and finally, in late summer that year, 304 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:18,359 Speaker 1: Whereto Rico faced the looming threat of Hurricane Marilyn, which 305 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:23,080 Speaker 1: was rapidly intensifying to the north. It eventually hit eastern 306 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: portions of the island as a Category three hurricane, causing 307 00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:33,440 Speaker 1: damage estimated to total around ten million dollars. Assaulted by 308 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: this barrage of threats, it isn't hard to see how 309 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:41,160 Speaker 1: a general climate of fear and anxiety might have contributed 310 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 1: to the proliferation of unsettling stories about strange vampiric creatures. 311 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 2: Roaming the land. 312 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:54,080 Speaker 1: But there were other longer term issues that weighed on 313 00:24:54,119 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 1: the country's collective subconscious Two. In nineteen thirty eight, hundreds 314 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: of Rhesus macaque monkeys were captured from twelve different districts 315 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: of India, put in cages and brought by boat to 316 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 1: Puerto Rico. From there, they were taken to the island 317 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 1: of Cayo Santiago, just one mile off the eastern coast 318 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:29,719 Speaker 1: of the mainland. By the nineties, the island was completely 319 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: inhabited by the free ranging monkeys. It was part of 320 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: a project set up by Columbia University and the United 321 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,960 Speaker 1: States and the School of Tropical Medicine of the University 322 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:43,360 Speaker 1: of Puerto Rico. 323 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:45,120 Speaker 2: Their goal was. 324 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:49,200 Speaker 1: To establish a breeding colony of free roaming, disease free 325 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 1: monkeys on whom they could conduct research into tropical diseases, 326 00:25:54,600 --> 00:26:00,320 Speaker 1: amongst other things. It became known as Monkey Island. The 327 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:03,760 Speaker 1: island was well known as one of the best places 328 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:08,440 Speaker 1: to study population management practices, as well as for providing 329 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: an extensive genetic database, making it a top destination for primatologists. 330 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:20,080 Speaker 1: But Cayo Santiago wasn't the only focus for monkey research 331 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:26,159 Speaker 1: in Puerto Rico. The Lapagera primate facility, located on the 332 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 1: southwest coast of Puerto Rico, was managed by the Caribbean 333 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: Primate Research Center of the University of Puerto Rico's Medical 334 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 1: Science campus from nineteen sixty one until nineteen eighty two. 335 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: Through a contract with the US's Food and Drug Administration. 336 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:50,720 Speaker 1: Primates were introduced from there to Isla Cuaver and Isla 337 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: Huaya can just off the southern coast near Juanica. According 338 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:00,639 Speaker 1: to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 339 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies, there were multiple incidents of the monkeys 340 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:10,160 Speaker 1: escaping from the islands. They carried the viral herpes bee, 341 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:14,679 Speaker 1: which can be fatal to humans and potentially contributed to 342 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 1: numerous outbreaks of the disease in the local human population. 343 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:25,159 Speaker 1: The American state of South Carolina eventually stepped in to help, 344 00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: offering to make an uninhabited island off its coast available 345 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,439 Speaker 1: as an alternative location for the research to continue, and 346 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: so between nineteen seventy nine and nineteen eighty over one thousand, 347 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:45,240 Speaker 1: four hundred animals were relocated to Morgan Island. But memories 348 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,119 Speaker 1: of the escaping monkeys still lingered in the minds of 349 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:54,199 Speaker 1: some on Puerto Rico. Exactly what kind of research was 350 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,919 Speaker 1: still going on with the macaques on Isla quaver and 351 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:10,959 Speaker 1: islahuaia Can, they wandered, Did it involve genetic manipulations? It 352 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,879 Speaker 1: was in March nineteen ninety five that initial reports of 353 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:20,040 Speaker 1: slaughtered farm animals began to surface on mainland Puerto Rico. 354 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:26,960 Speaker 1: Sheep were found butchered in suspicious circumstances in Orakovis and Morovis, 355 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 1: small towns located about an hour and a half's drive 356 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: southwest of the capital, San Juan, in the center of 357 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:39,960 Speaker 1: the island. In one case, eight sheep were discovered dead, 358 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 1: each with three puncture wounds in the chest area, allegedly 359 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: completely drained of blood. It was around this time that 360 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 1: Puerto Rican comedian Silverio Perez coined the name tupa cabra. 361 00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 1: But for poor ranchers and farmers having their livestock killed 362 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:07,120 Speaker 1: in what were already financially marginal circumstances was no laughing matter. Then, 363 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:12,360 Speaker 1: in August nineteen ninety five, in the town of Canovnas, 364 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: just east of San Juan, around one hundred and fifty 365 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: farm animals were found dead, But this time an eye 366 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 1: witness gave a detailed account of a bizarre creature they 367 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:31,560 Speaker 1: saw lurking round the area at the time. It was 368 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:35,280 Speaker 1: to give rise to the most well known and iconic 369 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:44,920 Speaker 1: description of the tupa cabra. Find out more next week 370 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:49,000 Speaker 1: when we return with the second and final part of 371 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 1: Unexplained Season eight, Episode five Islands of Fear. Thank you 372 00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:59,320 Speaker 1: as ever for listening to the show. Please subscribe and 373 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 1: rate it if you haven't already done so. In some 374 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:05,680 Speaker 1: other news, Unexplained will be coming to YouTube very shortly 375 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: in video form, so please watch out for future developments there. 376 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:12,720 Speaker 1: You can subscribe to the channel at YouTube dot com 377 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: Forward slash at Unexplained Pod. You can also now find 378 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: us on TikTok at TikTok dot com Forward slash at 379 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:24,120 Speaker 1: Unexplained Podcast. This episode was written by Diane Hope and 380 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 1: produced by me Richard McClain smith. Diane is an audio 381 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 1: producer and sound recordist in her own right. You can 382 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,680 Speaker 1: find out more about her work at Dianehope dot com 383 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:40,800 Speaker 1: and on Instagram at in the sound Field. Unexplained as 384 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:45,160 Speaker 1: an AV Club Productions podcast created by Richard McClain smith. 385 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 1: All other elements of the podcast, including the music, are 386 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: also produced by me Richard McClain smith. 387 00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:53,440 Speaker 2: Unexplained. 388 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:57,120 Speaker 1: The book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. 389 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:01,400 Speaker 1: You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and 390 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:05,840 Speaker 1: other bookstores. 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